How to pull of an upset against a 15.5 point favorite:
Win the turnover battle... check
Capitalize on turnovers... check
Score unconventional touchdowns... check
Win special teams... check (see unconventional touchdowns)
Bad weather... check
Key injury for opposing team... check
How to beat a 15.5 point favorite by 20 points on the road:
Coach the pants off the opposing teams staff... check
Yeah, Colt threw a lot of picks. Yeah, K State scored 41 points. Yeah, defense wasn't awesome. Yeah, awful special teams coverage. Make no mistake though, put this on the coaching staff. I would get used to it this year. It wasn't just a one time thing or a bad day. This is indicative of more widespread problems with the program but I don't feel like going into detail right now. Basically we've come full circle. Welcome to UT football pre-VY.
Mavs and TWolves have finalized a deal with the teams swapping Greg Buckner and Trenton Hassell. Buck never quite fit on this team last year and he was almost useless against the Warriors in the playoffs. He was brought on to provide perimeter defense and be another 3 point shooter. He didn't really shoot or make that many 3's and didn't play enough to really provide any impact on D. Don't know too much about Hassell but I'm reading that hes regarded as a premier perimeter defender amongst the likes of Bruce Bowen. Not a great 3 point shooter (currently a weakness on our team I think) but has a good mid-range jumper. I didn't really see what Buckner's role on this team was as the roster was becoming more crowded with swingmen so I don't really see where Hassell fits into the rotation either. J-Ho, Stack, Eddie Jones, Mo Ager, Devean George, and Hassell all qualify as swingmen. J-Ho and Stack will play minus the 30 or so games that Stack will be hurt. Out of the rest of the group, 1 or 2 of those guys will get no PT. George may end up being defacto backup PF if Bass or Fazekas can't get it done so that clears out some space. If Harris and J-Ho start at the guard spots, sliding Jet into a similar role as Stack as an off the bench spark, then I could see Hassell as a "starter" at SF ala Adrian Griffin two years ago. Here's his profile page on nba.com... hope hes not expecting 29 MPG again.
Here's what I want to see today from the Horns:
They need to woodshed K-State today and gain some confidence and momentum going into OU.
Need to see John Chiles and McGee play meaningful snaps against a Big 12 opponent. If we don't see them today there is zero chance they play against OU next week.
I will throw my remote at the TV if I see that fatass Josh Freeman set up camp in the pocket and throw over the top of our defense on play action. Nightmares of Yamon Figurs and our season slipping away from us last year...
Muckelroy needs to play... like almost every snap. Kindle's injury status is up in the air but I hope he is ready to go today. He needs to continue to get some PT and stay on the field more often. The gem of that recruiting class has been low impact so far at UT.
We need a dominant, efficient offensive performance and not struggle on the ground. These shouldn't be strictly reserved for Rice. Was last week offensive progress or just opponent?
Congrats to Michael Young for getting 200 hits despite hitting well below the Mendoza line for the the first month of the season and killing my fantasy team. Wade Boggs and Ichiro is pretty exclusive company. Here's a transcript from a chat session with his double play partner, Ian Kinsler. Some good stuff in there including what he did in the 2nd half to overcome his defensive and hitting struggles.
Matt Kemp is available according to this article which also discusses why Jeff Kent hate the Dodgers younsters (and the world). I link only because I'd be interested in Matt Kemp if I were the Rangers.
And a pair of articles about the backgrounds of a pair of UT players. First, the speedy but fumble prone Jamaal Charles. Secondly, an article about the Jekyll and Hyde demeanor of the best linebacker on the team... who happens to not even be a starter....
I missed the 2nd half of UT-Rice and had some technical difficulties with my VCR, thus I still haven't seen the more important portions of Saturdays game. The 2nd half being more important because John Chiles and Vondrell McGee came in and zone read the shit out of Rice. As far as 1st half thoughts there not much to say that we don't know already... Muckelroy is really good and Killebrew isn't, Limas Sweed is awesome, we have a ridiculous amount of D-line depth, our run blocking is still questionable. So now we start conference play and the season has the potential to go downhill from here really fast. CFN has us rated amongst the top 5 overrated teams in the country and probably with good reason. More thoughts on Rice plus the outlook for the rest of the year in Scipio's game recap.
Articles about the two starting QB's this week for UT and KSU. Colt had an epiphany against Rice... strange that Rice cures all ills. Josh Freeman was a fatass this summer and really hasn't been all that good outside of the UT game last year.
AJ Murray aka The Pirate made a start for the Rangers last night and pitched effectively. Apparently the Rangers are big fans of adopting the low A tandem starter philosophy as we've done this countless times over the past month for various reasons. So I guess you can add Murray to the ever growing list of potential starters for next year. I think the Rangers are determined to have no less than 18 candidates for the rotation going into spring training so we're doing it American Idol style where everyone gets 30 seconds to a minute (i.e. 70 pitches) to start and show what they've got.
An article from DMN's Calvin Watkins about the new happy, productive TO. One year ago was the circus scene involving TO and his accidental OD/suicide attempt, whatever you want to call it. Watkins compares then to now and concludes that all is right in TO's world. Coming to a screen near you: The TO Story. Getcha popcorn ready.
So lets see... your All-world LT is out for the year, your star RB is out this week, your QB is ailing, your defense sucks, you're 0-3 and about the only chance you have is if your opponent doesn't take you seriously... I guess its time to give the other team bulletin board material. Isaac Bruce guarantees a win this weekend.
This was a Tony Romo coming out party. Any more questions? Romo is so good its mindboggling. Where did this guy come from? His pocket presence is uncanny and his ability to feel that pressure and shift to buy himself an extra half second to throw the ball is unreal. Couple that ability with his quick release and its quite a combination. How many times would Drew Bledsoe have been sacked last night? Romo stays so calm and collected in the pocket. Compare that with Train Rex who has all the makings of a QB with frayed nerves every time he drops back. He feels any pressure and he freaks. How else would you explain throwing into triple coverage?
All facets of the team played well last night. Its quite clear that this offense is scary good. The defense is improving. Still not sold on the pass D but there was increased QB pressure last night and you can at least call the defense opportunistic. With our offense, opportunistic is good enough. Special teams gave up nothing to Devin Hester and it was fun to watch Hester get increasingly frustrated. More thoughts...
Roy Williams is still a joke. Pretty much responsible for the Bears only TD last night. I'm sure he'll pat himself on the back for recovering two turnovers (gifts) but theres no excuse for that shoulder shove.
Anthony Spencer is showing up more and more each game. His progress is coming along nicely.
Maybe Anthony Henry was right when he says injuries really hampered him last year.
Nice to have a kicker with little drama attached AND he makes his kicks.
Flozelle... sigh...
On the other hand, dominating 2nd half for the offensive line. Their size really wore down the Bears.
MBIII was simply awesome again. Just so much fun to watch. To be fair, JJ had some nice runs last night negated by penalty. He was also dinged up in the 2nd half when MBIII got the benefit of running against an exhausted defense.
Jason Garrett is a head coach in the making and perhaps the heir to the Cowboys coaching throne. Great job of moving TO around last night, including starting him in the backfield, in order to identify pre-snap the type of coverage he was facing.
Speaking of TO, he had great numbers last year but they were empty. He only had a true impact on 2 games last year. These are not empty numbers. He completely took over last night and abused the middle of the field.
Keith Davis was pissed after the first kickoff when the Cowboys avoided Hester by mistakenly kicking out of bounds. He demanded to the special teams coach to kick to Hester and that the coverage unit would take care of him. Keith Davis and the rest of the unit delivered. Have to love the enthusiasm Davis has for his special teams role and its easy (somewhat) to see why Parcells overlooked Keith Davis getting shot (twice). Shades of Kenny Gant.
Just awful refs last night. The worst being the debacle at the end of the 1st half. This from the DMN Cowboys blog: "Phillips told the ref on the field that the clock should have stopped. The ref explained that the clock doesn't stop on a sack. Yeah, Phillips said, but it was fourth down. Phillips didn't get a satisfactory explanation after that, and the conversation came to an abrupt end when they put Gloria Estefan's stage up at midfield." If anyone noticed Ron Winters came running in after the sack winding his arm indicating to keep running the clock so apparently he lost track of downs. He was then pompous enough to ignore the Cowboys coaching staff. Laughable.
Good to see Ware make some plays. Theres still an APB out for Marcus Spears.
The defense is getting better and I look forward to the fully healthy returns of Newman and Ellis. Bottom line, there is a lot of talent on this team. I simply can't contain my enthusiasm. I have to remind myself that its only week 3. Oh screw it, Super Bowl bound baby!
What is there to say about Texas vs. Rice? If UT doesn't win I would resign my fandom so theres not much analysis to do. Look for John Chiles to get in the game today. The key is will he get meaningful snaps or garbage snaps when we're winning by 40 after 3.5 quarters. Chip Brown suggests that he could be a potential red-zone solution by getting him in there to run the zone read. At least give OU something to think about but of course we wouldn't use it in that game then bust it out again in the game after OU. Just like fake punts etc. Mack is like clockwork. 45-10
Now the Cowboys game I can't wait for. On the road against the 'NFC champs'. Its a good test and we would instantly legitimize ourselves to the rest of the league. I'm scared that it will be one of those games for the Cowboys though. All the buildup and hype but no delivery. Think the Saints debacle from last year. However, I'm a homer and think we have a great shot. Yes the D has looked like a sieve when anyone other than Trent Green is the QB, yes that makes one other QB, but we're still talking about Grossman here. Grossman does like to go deep though and thats about the only thing he does decently. When you have Roy Williams back there that can always be an adventure. Grossman hasn't really had the opportunity to do as such this year as his O-line has not protected him well. So come on vaunted Cowboys blitzing scheme, lets get after Train Rex and force him into mistakes and now allow him time to go deep. More importantly, Cowboys need to control Hester and give the Bears long fields to work with. However, if its a matter of kicking the ball out of bounds and giving the Bears the ball on the 40 as opposed to punting deep to the 25 and letting Hester field it, I'll take my chances with Rex and the shorter field. What will be even more fun is seeing how this high flying offense does against the Bears D. I think we can put up 17 or 20 and that may just be enough. Should be a great game as its gonna be a good barometer for all the Cowboys units on Sunday night. Cowboys win, 17-13.
And now the good news: Here's an uplifting story about how the Cowboys have an effective running back tandem in MBIII and JJ. There are going to be no changes in the way they are utilized. Combined they have more yards than anyone in the league except for the baby making machine Travis Henry. I guess if it works....
The Nicaraguan Enigma added another episode to what has been a very strange week and season for him. Didn't see the first half of the game but Evan Grant's game story focuses on Padilla's perplexing approach in last night's start. After promising Wash a make-good performance he abandoned his fastball early and went with his breaking pitches, including that ridiculous eephus soft lob that he throws, and managed to confuse the hell out of Wash, the robot pitching coach, and Salty. Who knows what is in his head sometimes. It seems ridiculous to cut loose such a large contract one year in but Padilla has built quite the case for himself. I maintain that when he is mentally focused he is a very effective pitcher. The Rangers have a decision to make. I think the best part of the article was Grant mentioning that Padilla's apology was made through Sosa the "interpreter". Again, I wish I could have been there.
Cowboys story about McBriar vs. Hester. Its a key matchup on Sunday night since if the Cowboys can control field position it will force Grossman to lead long scoring drives. He's good for a mistake about once every ten plays so you want to force the Bears to have to march the ball.
One of my many frustrations with the Horns this year is the refusal to play young guys. Here's a story from the AAS about how close games haven't allowed the Longhorns to do so. Its a terrible excuse first of all, and secondly the author is referring more to guys who would normally garner mop up duty in early season blowouts. I'm talking about guys who are getting some PT but should be starting. We'll see them starting after we get skull-fucked by OU as per Mack's typical pattern. Chip Brown makes note of this pattern and sees history repeating itself.
If you've seen the "Leave Britney Spears Alone" video on YouTube then you should find this funny. Theres been a million spoofs but this one is about Coach Fran. If you haven't seen the original get out from under your rock and join the rest of us YouTube obsessed losers.
Well I don't really care about the effect on the Rangers of Padilla being a one man vengeance machine. Yes, it did tax the bullpen but Nick Swisher is a d-bag and I take pleasure in Padilla reminding him of this fact. In case you missed the fight, here it is. Nice form tackle, puss.
Wash made Padilla apologize to the team and I really wish I could have seen this. I have no doubt that the team doesn't really like him so the awkwardness of Padilla addressing the team would have made for great comedy.
Volquez was pretty good last night so its unfortunate he wasn't able to earn the W for his performance. I feel good about going into next season with a rotation of Millwood, Padilla, McCarthy, Gabbard, and Volquez. I can't wait to see what Volquez will do over a full season.
Speaking of Gabbard, hes been shut down with the dreaded forearm stiffness which has plagued Aki. Its a red flag since Gabbard has had 4 arm surgeries already.
3-0 and it feels like 1-2 with that 1 win against TCU losing some luster thanks the the Frogs loss this week to the airmen. Yes, yes, UCF was opening their new stadium, the crowd was fired up, the Knights were looking forward to this... whatever. Since when did we start apologizing and making excuses for games against early season patsies? We did nothing to win this game, the UCF QB gave it to us. Offensively, our game-plan was about as daring as an Amish porno mag. Ok fine, we'll move the ball down the field with 5 yard patterns. Would it kill us if these 5 yard patterns consisted of someone cutting across the field, i.e. on the run when catching the pass? Nevertheless, we moved the ball down the field until suddenly the field shrinks once you get closer to the endzone. Ah yes, the dreaded red zone. Suddenly our inability to run block becomes an issue and the 5 yard patterns aren't there anymore. Methinks UCF was willing to give us that short underneath stuff all day but they weren't gonna concede a long pass play. Two things... first of all this means we were never able to threaten them with an imposing run game to force them to bring safeties up into the box. Secondly, when did we let teams like UCF dictate our game plan?
Then we move on to our defense. Our D-line is really good. Everything else... not so much. Not really necessary to beat a dead horse so I won't really elaborate much. The next time Bobino and Killebrew make an impact on a game will be the first this season. I can't wait for the OU meltdown so we can replace these 'starters'.
Lets call it what it is... a rebuilding/reloading year. Some teams go about it better than others. Us on the other hand, well it seems like we might just be able to really screw it all up. Usually in such years you learn about your team and who can contribute for the future and you make adjustments from there. This helps you get better throughout the year and prepares you for the years to come. Instead, we will continue to reward players for being seniors and take away much needed game experience from others. For a more in depth and hilarious game analysis please refer to Scipio's game recap at Barking Carnival. This is the kind of cynicism and humor I can get behind. I dare you not to laugh.
As for the news of the day regarding James Henry, I don't regard this is another incident but I find it part of the debacle that is Robert Joseph. My opinion (a few posts below) still stands on our spotty recent criminal record.
Been busy so theres a lot of stuff to catch up on. I'll split it into separate posts so I'm gonna start with the Cowboys. Some game thoughts:
A lot of praise is being heaped on the defense after the Miami game but I wasn't quite as impressed. Trent Green was quite the philanthropist and Anthony Henry was a willing beneficiary. Chris Chambers was still running free through the secondary for a large part of the day but Green just couldn't find him. I still didn't see the pass rush I've been hoping for either. Marcus Spears is apparently still under witness protection and Ware has yet to impose his will on anyone yet this year. Jay Ratliff played a good game though but I wasn't really able to judge how effective he was in the run game. Roy Williams did make a couple nice 3rd down stops and was the in the right place at the right time when Trent Green was feeling generous late in the game. Bottom line is the defense deserves credit for taking advantage of opportunity but I'm still apprehensive about the unit.
Miami D put up more of a fight than the matador Giants but Romo showed why hes the right man for the job. He didn't force anything and did a good job to elude pressure.
Same story again for MBIII and JJ but the combo did a good job on the ground to wear down Miami's D.
In my game preview I said no sacks allowed and two false starts for Flozelle would be a great game. Congrats Flozelle, you did exactly that so you should be commended.
TO is a weapon... that has the occasional dropsies. He deserves an A+ for creativity for his TD celebration.
Nick Folk looks good.
Is Bobby Carpenter that bad in practice that he warrants zero playing time? Are we ready to declare the flowing locks a 1st round bust?
It was a solid win that still left open some questions about the team. In any case, you take a road win in the NFL any way you can have it. Chalk up the victory and lets move on to little Rexie.
I'm glad to see the Eagles at 0-2 because they'll right the ship eventually. Sometimes I get the feeling that McNabb wishes he wasn't black. The more worrisome aspect is that the Redskins look like a player in the NFC East so the division just got that much harder. Solid defense, lot of talent in the secondary, good RBs and WRs. Jason Campbell just needs to drive the bus and he has done so in the first two weeks. Not always easy to do though, just ask Rex Grossman. Who do the Browns think they are scoring 51 points?
Now the news of the day is the imminent signing of the Tank. Reports are that it would be for league minimum and he would be eligible in week 10 against the G-Men, not week 9 since the Boys have a bye in week 8. Whatever, I'm on board. Pretty low risk etc., etc.
Here's my quick, I wanna leave work and go home analysis of the Cowboys and Longhorns opponents this weekend:
UCF: A grind it out on the ground team as they have a talented RB in Kevin Smith. This kinda plays into the hands of the Horns cuz lets face it, good luck running against Okam, Lokey, and Miller. They had an upset win over NC State to open the season but when beating NC State is an upset that kinda tells you where they stand. Opening a brand new stadium and the crowd should be amped (student pop. of 50,000) so I expect it to stay close early but Horns pull away and win by 21... final score 31-10.
Dolphins: The Fins offense should help the Cowboys defense look better this week. Trent Green and the rest of the offense looked terrible last week against the Redskins. I can still see 2 TDs from the Dolphins though. Dolphins still have talent, albeit aging talent, on defense so don't expect any 45 point outbursts. Flo Adams will have to step up and play a good game against Jason Taylor. No sacks allowed and only 2 false starts would be an overwhelming success for him. Cowboys may have to grind this one out on the ground with JJ and MBIII. The Boys take it 21-14.
Yet another Longhorn is under arrest as this time its meaningless Tyrell Gatewood, a senior safety who has had little more than special teams play while on the 40. Along with him in the car was promising freshman DB Ben Wells. The arrests mean little in terms of affecting the team on the field, but is another black eye for the football program. Not that it makes it ok, but I'm gonna go ahead and throw it out there that this kind of behavior isn't exactly higher at UT than any other school, it just seems like it cuz A.) we just won a title and with it comes attention and B.) our guys are getting arrested for it. There are other schools that have just as many arrests that aren't newsworthy cuz they're not UT. Why are so many players suddenly getting arrested for it? My educated guess would be that after winning a title and so much attention being heaped on the team, many players probably feel more empowered and bulletproof so they're less careful about their illegal actions. I'm not going to be naive like all the old alums on Orangebloods and be shocked that there are this many players on the team that smoke pot or dabble in other drugs like xanax or "the lean". The term student-athlete is a myth, most of these guys are here to play football. As an alum and supporter of the school, I am embarrassed by all this but I honestly don't think that we are a rebel program with a serious drug/character problem.
If any further proof was necessary that Devin Harris is the Mavs PG of the future, the 15 year old looking Avery protege signed a new 5 year extension. I would have preferred to see how he handled being the starter at PG before locking him up long term but perhaps this will help him be more comfortable now that he knows the team believes in him. He got paid, now its time to earn that paycheck.
Terry Glenn had the option of season/career ending microfracture surgery or getting some cartilage cleaned out with the possibility of being able to make it back this year. It appears that he wants to get back on the field as he had arthroscopic surgery this morning and hopes to be ready in a few weeks. I think the offense would be ok either way but if Glenn is capable of playing near full strength his speed down the field will only serve to open it up even more everyone else. Despite being called 'she' by the Tuna years ago, I think theres no doubt that Glenn is a warrior, albeit injury prone.
A new artist rendering for Glory Park was released today, further emphasizing the fact that Arlington will be a ridiculous money making machine in a few years. Looks like the town center combined with the planned Jerry World complex outside the stadium will make the whole area one combined gigantic sports mecca. Some apartments are planned for Glory Park which would make living there a year round tailgate party. How could Dallas let Arlington get away with this?
The Cowboys made the family reunion official as they re-signed Remi Ayodele. I'm not really expecting much contribution from him since they thought so highly of his work in training camp that they decided to give Jay Ratliff a look at DT and then cut Remi before the season. Plus hes a Sooner and our recent track record with Sooners is pretty poor. Small sample size, I know.
Apparently Tank Johnson is on the watch list too and his agent says Tank is working hard to be in the best shape possible. Hopefully he's altered his diet a little from the $700 he spent on junk food while in jail. Thats a lot of beef sticks and honey buns.
Has anyone noticed that Vicente Padilla has pitched really well? I still think he can be a solid contributor next year. Its clear that he was pitching hurt for a while this year. Hammerin' Hank is sporting a .370/.433/.852 line since his return which is very encouraging considering the Rangers really need him to be a big contributor next year.
Don't wear your Longhorn T-shirt in a Sooner bar or someone will rip your balls off. Classy.
Chip Brown goes into detail about UT's multi-formation, pass 1st, run 2nd, offensive scheme against TCU, and what is hopefully our new offensive identity for the year. Credit the coaching staff for adapting, albeit a year late. This plays to the strengths of the roster as we have a developing O-line, a number of capable receivers, and a "coach's son" at QB. Spreading out the defense also gives JC more room to run if they're concerned about our receivers.
A get to know you article about Jay Ratliff. They do a good job of making sound like a weirdo.
An article from Jennifer Engel of the Star-Telegram, who I don't really like all that much, but any article ripping Roy Williams is fine by me. We need more of these.
Oh look, I found another anti-Roy article... this one from Bob Sturm's (of the Ticket) blog. I like his suggestion of taking Roy off the field on 3rd and long. It would be a start.
For afternoon work entertainment the Rangers are starting the first game of the Tigers doubleheader right about now. Throw on the gamecast to see if Padilla will save the rest of the pitching staff or throw at Carlos Guillen's head cuz he feels like it.
Well that was a successful weekend. I think I watched 20+ hours of football. I deserve a pat on the back. Combine that with the fact that my teams won and that makes for happy times. Here are some thoughts...
Cowboys 45-35... a win is a win but the team looks the same as last year with a more high powered offense. I still hate Roy Williams and he was once again wearing his WR repellent suit. I expected a lot more from the defense. I didn't really expect Roy to miraculously be able to cover but what I expected was to see a ferocious pass rush that would negate our weaknesses in the secondary. I also didn't expect to see Roy 20 yards deep chasing receivers all over. I thought he was going to be playing up this year and attacking the LOS? Dude can't even tackle anymore. He simply doesn't have the instincts to be a DB. We need to have a pass rush that dictates the game. The rush wasn't bad, just ok, but that isn't good enough with our secondary. However, few defenses are successful when missing as many key players as we are. On the other hand, a healthy defense was torched last year as well. Some more quick thoughts:
Losing Fergie really hurts the run defense more than anything. He was going to make a lot of plays this year in the 1 gap scheme matched up one-on-one instead of taking on a double team and holding his ground in Tuna's 2 gap attack.
Anthony Spencer made a few plays in the pass rush which was good to see. Didn't see him get abused in the run game in particular but the run defense was less than stellar and he may have played a part in that.
What a debut for Jason Garrett. He attacked that Giants defense through the air and it paid off. Our offense looks like it could be pretty fierce as Romo really took advantage of Witten down the middle while the Giants were rolling coverage to TO. Garrett remembers what Jay Novacek did for the Cowboys in the mid 90's.
I don't know if MBIII can handle being an every down back or if he will be less successful as a primary back in a tandem setup but I do know this: he is flat out more effective than JJ when hes in there. Jones spends a lot of time "skiing" in the backfield then running into his linemen for a 2 yard gain. MBIII runs with authority and I love watching him.
Roy Williams needs to stop turning around and looking at the rest of the secondary every time he gets burned.
I have no idea why the Giants didn't throw to Burress even more or test the Cowboys deep more often.
Tom Coughlin is so fired after this year, if not sooner.
Tiki Barber needs to stop referring to the Giants as 'we'. Tiki, they don't even like you anymore. I don't like you either.
Wade looks like Robocop with his strange headset.
If Roy Williams trademark is tackling, then he needs to at least do that well.
O-line protected pretty well. Miami and Chicago are up next which will provide tougher tests than the Giants did last night.
Do you think the Tuna would have allowed for that pass to Sam Hurd late in the game if he were still coaching this team? He probably would have opted to punt on 3rd down just to make sure we maintained field position.
Texas 34-13. A tale of two halves. It's been a while since this team has played that well and with that much intensity as they did in the 2nd half. The defense really fed off of Muckelroy and TCU was toast from there. Imagine that, a younger player making an impact. Yes Mack, sometimes your underclassmen are better than your seniors. I'll give credit to Palmer and Foster for playing better this game than last. They both made some plays. However, I feel the need to reign in the enthusiasm a little bit. I'm still not sold on this team yet. I really think TCU's actual talent was overstated. They were outclassed talent-wise and it was obvious. Their offense is really not very good and gave them no chance on Saturday. I'm encourage by the fact that our offense stuck to the air attack more to move down the field. If we can't run block then we have to do what we're good at which is throwing to multiple receivers out of the shotgun. Me moved down the field effectively with little hitch, dig, drag, and crosses ala Texas Tech. Jamaal was effective when he got his chances and we even ran out of the I formation with him. The passing helped open it up for him. I think the team is beginning to develop the offensive identity it was lacking before.
Let me reiterate... Roddrick Muckelroy, along with Jared Norton, are very good players. They should be playing much more than Bobino, Killebrew, and Derry.
Deon Beasley looked good again. Palmer and Foster played well but Beasley should still be starting.
Jamaal Charles is an exciting runner to watch when he has room to operate. Lightning quick, great juking ability, and speed to burn when he gets loose in the open.
More shuffling on the offensive line gives me ulcers but they were pretty effective after Ulatoski went down with an injury.
Nate Jones is coming into his own. Limas, Cosby, Jones, and J-Mike give us a lot of weapons.
The aforementioned J-Mike... good to know that Greg Davis remembers that we have an awesome TE.
Defense played with an attitude that wasn't there last year. Again, it fed off of Muck's playmaking ability and the attacking style we employed in the 2nd half. They really got after TCU. Props to Akina for turning them loose.
Tony Hills really shut down a future 1st round pick.
OU looks really really good and it makes me sick. We still need to get better if we don't want to get smoked at the Cotton Bowl. Malcolm Kelly will make the secondary look silly in a way that TCU couldn't.
The winning continues for the Rangers as they swept the hated A's. It would be nothing short of remarkable if this team got back to .500. At the very least it looks like we won't finish in the AL West cellar. Sunday's game was ugly as the Rangers managed to set a record for most pitches thrown in a 9 inning game dating back to 1988 when pitch counts began to be officially tracked. With a double header coming up, McCarthy limited to 40 pitches in his return, and a few other aches and pains for CJ and Gabbard, this pitching staff will be tired to say the least. Kinsler has been impressive lately as has Blalock since his return. As the season winds down I'm really looking forward to seeing what this team does next year. Then again, "next year" seems like a familiar theme for Rangers fans.
Well I said a while ago that injuries would be one of the primary concerns for this team. You can add Jason Ferguson to the list. Apparently hes out for the year with a torn triceps. So right now 3 of the top 4 most important players on the defense are hurt right now. Who knows when Ellis will be back and if he'll be effective, Newman will be hampered all year by his injury, and now losing the NT is a 3-4 is crucial. Jay Ratliff made a few plays but hes not quite the immovable, low center of gravity, bowling ball of man that Fergie is. Not many defenses will be successful when they're missing so many key pieces... as you could see tonight. More on UT and the Cowboys later.
More ominous news coming from Valley Ranch as today we find out Terry Glenn is out for some super secret amount of time. I've even seen reports of him being out for the season. Seems like there has been a lot of non-disclosure this off-season about injuries concerning Glenn, T-New, and Ellis. Glenn has been all over the map, at first Newman was just sitting out the pre-season game to rest his foot then we find out he has plantar fasciitis, and Ellis of course has been a complete mystery. I was extremely optimistic 2 weeks ago but there's just been an ill wind blowing out at the Cowboys compound lately.
Updated: So apparently there was a story posted on the Cowboys site that Glenn was out for the year. The story was pulled and replaced with a story that says two weeks. Something is amiss. I've read some speculation about the dreaded micro-fracture surgery which would probably be it for Terry Glenn's career. Murphy's Law is in full effect for the Cowboys right now.
An article on Kam Loe look-a-like David Murphy this morning in the Star-Telegram. He's been a pleasant surprise indeed and the article notes on how he's taken playing time away from Nellie Cruz. It will be interesting to see how this plays out between now and opening day next season. If he can play some D and at least display a competent bat he will be a very usable player... decent starter, great 4th OFer.
Torii Hunter allegedly turned down 3 years, 45 mil from the Twins. Then, as if it were a mystery, declared that he wanted to test free agency. Well, technically he said he wanted to wait till season's end to discuss a contract but we know what that means. He wants 5 years... I'll pass.
Michael Strahan says he's ready to play but its up to Tom Coughlin to decide on Saturday. I'm sure he will see at least some PT. I doubt Strahan needs much time to get ready.
Just an awesome weekend of football ahead. Not just my teams but a lot of interesting matchups across college and of course NFL opening weekend. Big games for both UT and the Cowboys. UT has to shutup these Frogs and prove that they are better than they showed last Saturday... I'm trying to be optimistic but I'm wary about this team. The Cowboys have to win division games at home so its time to strap 'em up before another injury besets the team. I'll say 23-20 Texas, and 24-17 Cowboys.
I don't think it was just a hiccup. This is not a very good football team. I'd like to not knee jerk but everything I was concerned about with this team (see this post) going into the season showed up on Saturday. The weaknesses were exploited by Arkansas freaking State. It was almost unwatchable. If we were gonna play that poorly I would have almost preferred a loss so I wouldn't have to hear Mack say crap like "you have to give credit to them because they played tough", "you can lose any week if you don't come to play", "50% of the teams out there wish they were 1-0 like we are". The coaches have been in pure denial since last year about the fact that our O-line/run game sucks and we have serious talent deficiencies in the defense. Here's my rundown, take it for what its worth...
O-Line/run game: Jamaal Charles is an extraordinary talent. How do I know this? Because he managed over 100 yards despite having atrocious blocking in front of him. Several times on Saturday he had about the most difficult 3 yard runs you'll see. As soon as he got the ball (standing still mind you), he had defenders in his face, had to dance around them, and claw out 3 yards. The drive in which we got stuffed at the goal line, JC was completely exhausted by the end of it since he had to work so hard on every run. He had no shot on any of those runs. Here's a pictorial example. On the right side we have one guy on the ground providing a completely ineffective block, one guy completely whiffing, and another running sideways away from the LBs. We are completely wasting JC's ability.
I'm perplexed as to why we are this bad at running the ball. You could say its talent and execution since we have a young O-line. Ok, well the O-line talent was certainly there last year and our running game still sucked. So is it scheme? There are a lot of people yelling about how since we don't have VY we can't run the zone read anymore. I would say thats not exactly accurate since we don't run the zone read play much. Zone read would mean that Colt is reading the weakside DE and deciding whether or not he will keep the ball and run or handoff. We don't call this play but maybe once or twice just to keep the defense honest since Colt isn't a running QB. Our run plays out of the shotgun are straight run plays. Zone read is not to be confused with the shotgun. Its merely a play within the shotgun which we don't run as much anymore. There is certainly something to be said about VY keeping the defense honest on run plays though so they aren't able to run-blitz or all out crash on backside pursuit. However, its not like running the ball out of the shotgun is some crazy notion. Plenty of college football teams do it, why can't we?
I think we're suffering from offensive identity crisis. We know we can throw the ball and we want to spread out the defense by utilizing the shotgun spread. Our pass blocking was commendable last game. But Mack has always believed in establishing the run so he wants to run the ball but also use the same base formation in which we have success throwing. I think by now its clear that for whatever reason, we can't execute this blocking scheme whether its talent or coaching. So pick one Mack. We are a passing team out of the shotgun, or we go I-form and establish the run. I think JC is more suited for downhill running. You hand the ball off to him standing still in the shotgun you've already taken away one of his strengths: speed. Thank god hes elusive or those 3 yard gains would be 3 yard losses. Time to stop making excuses like "we're just missing a block or two" and see it for what it is: a run game that needs to be re-worked.
Linebackers/Defensive Backs: The good news is that we have some talented LBs and DBs, the bad news is that they aren't starting. As we do every year, we defer to the older players to start with the rationale being that they've been in the program longer. Look, I don't care how long they've been on campus. Brandon Foster sucks. Ryan Palmer sucks. Erick Jackson sucks. Robert Killebrew sucks and the only thing he can do is commit personal fouls. Scott Derry may be reliable but he will never make a big play for you. Rashad Bobino has a nose for the ball but he can't overcome his size and speed.
I'd rather see the likes of Deon Beasley (who was good in his PT on Saturday) on the field learning from his mistakes than watching a pair of midgets get burned by a freaking Sunbelt team. Why is Muckelroy not a starter? Instead we rotate him into the LB rotation. We hear so many good things about Jared Norton yet he doesn't start either. I don't care if they're not seniors cuz the seniors obviously aren't getting the job done. We've had them on campus for 4 years now and we know what they are. Lets not be afraid to find out about some youngsters. Competition creates good things right? Mack actually commended the defense this week. Unbelievable. How many times did they cross the 50? The better question is how many times didn't they cross the 50. Arkansas State should not put together long drives on you. Just embarrassing.
In closing, if we play like we did last week, I have no doubt in my mind that we will lose to TCU on Saturday. When we lost to OU every year we did the song and dance of starting incapable upperclassmen up until the OU game, the after the loss Mack would "get tough" and threaten that everyone's starting job was on the line. Then people that should have been starting anyways would be shuffled into the starting lineup. That wake up loss may come earlier than expected this year.
Having said all that, I'm pumped for more football this weekend.
I feel sorry for TO sometimes because things he says really do get blown out of proportion on occasion. Here's a harmless 10 question interview with Time in which he answers fan submitted questions. Someone asks "If you could choose any quarterback in the NFL to be the No. 1 in Dallas, who would it be and why?"... TO answers Peyton Manning like anybody would. ESPN turns the story into "TO would rather have Peyton as his QB". How bout some journalistic integrity? They didn't even quote the question. Then again, can't really say I'm surprised by this sensationalist reporting from USCPN.
An open letter from TO to fantasy owners this year that he read on the Jimmy Kimmel show. I love it.
This is a fantastic compilation of the Rangers organizational depth chart put together by Scott Lucas who does the minor league reports for Newberg.
Allan Houston (king of the 20, 1, 1 stat line) says he's ready to make a comeback and the Mavs are reportedly interested. He would fit the off-season acquisition criteria of being 35 and over. Shoot me now.
Arkie St. coach says the Big 12 has apologized to him for blowing the call on the onside kick late in Saturday's joke of a football game. For those that don't know, they recovered an onside, down 8, with under a minute left which was pulled back due to some rule about having at least 4 players on either side of the kicker. Their coach was furious and so was number 12 on their team as he was slamming his helmet everywhere on the sideline and holding back tears. I think they were offsides anyways. Doesn't make me feel any better about the game obviously.
Your Texas Rangers are single digits below .500. I still believe Vicente Padilla can be an effective pitcher for this team and he showed why last night. Bill White looks like the white version of Vicente Padilla. I was upset to see Aki put on the 60 day DL meaning hes done for the year. However, my sadness turned into elation when I saw Luis Mendoza's hair. Luis Mendoza has freakin awesome hair... like a wild, untamed stallion.
Engineer by day, avid sports fan by night. I'm all about the Cowboys, Rangers, Mavs, and Stars, as well as UT football and basketball. These are my musings on the Dallas pro sports teams as well as UT sports. I'll also include any pertinent and interesting links (use Bugmenot.com for any required registration) and stories that I come across. Feel free to leave comments.
